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Top 3 Questions To Ask Your Job Recruiter

Written on May 6, 2016

Your business is going well. In fact, it’s great. Congratulations! Now you have to hire for a key position because you don’t have the skills in house, or your team is already overstretched, or a new opportunity means new thinking is needed. Or maybe someone has moved on or you had to let someone go. Whatever the reason, you are now in need of new talent. Should you call a recruiter?

You know that posting your opening on one of the major job boards means you’ll be flooded with resumes. Your own website doesn’t get enough traffic to attract job seekers’ attention. You may know how to separate the good from the bad, but the good from the not-so-good is trickier. Your really don’t have time to go through several rounds of interviews with multiple candidates.

So, yes, this is probably a good time to call a recruiter. If you’ve never worked with a recruiter, headhunter, staffing firm or employment firm, you should take the time to interview more than one and ask questions. Lots of questions.

Those Top 3 Questions

What should I expect when we work together? Every recruiting firm has its own practices and you should understand what to expect from the firm you hire. Ask about responsiveness, how wide they will cast their net, the number of candidates you are likely to see, what their process is to vet candidates, how will they support you during the interview process, and many more.

What is their experience in the field of the position you are trying to fill? Not only will a recruiter with knowledge of your field understand the technical aspects of the position you are filling and be knowledgeable about the language, acronyms and jargon, they’ll be better able to discern the fluff and the padding on a resume. They’ll also be able to ask pointed, technical questions that will uncover the most qualified candidates to send to you.
An experienced recruiter will also know people who aren’t ready to go public with their job search. These are the people whose current contract is about to expire, who are unhappy in their current job and who, maybe, aren’t actively looking and are unaware of your opening.

Ask about the bottom line: How much? What are their fees? When are they payable? Are there guarantees?

“A good recruiter can save time (and therefore money) and help you source applicants you wouldn’t have found on your own. An excellent recruiter can even bring clarity where confusion existed by say, helping you think through the job that needs doing and who’s best to do it,” according to Payscale.

So, don’t go it alone. The time and expense of advertising, and the hours sorting resumes and multiple interviews, are likely considerably higher than you are counting on. Lost revenue from a vacant position or a bad hiring decision can end up costing you substantially more than the recruiter’s fee.